Meningitis and Glandular Fever
by Starshone
Summary: Fiberglass Slipper prequel. It's Ryo's notsosweet sixteenth, and according to Juri, this means it's time for a surprise party. Jenrya's not so sure. Jenryo, onesided Ryuki if you squint hard, background Jurato. Second to last Fiberglass fic, I swear...


To be honest, Jenrya doesn't know what to expect at Ryo's surprise birthday party. For one thing, he's never been to Kitakyushu before, let alone Ryo's house. For another, he's always been kind of unsure exactly where he stands with Ryo. Certainly, half of what the older Tamer says to him in private can hardly be misconstrued as 'friendly', even _he_ knows it's more flirting than anything else. He's _tried_ to hint that he's interested, but how vague _is_ his hinting, anyway? He'd never be able to make a more direct move— 

Takato derails his train of thought by almost yelling at him, going quieter mid-sentence once he remembers they're on a train. "I can't believe you only told me yesterday!"

Jenrya decides to deflect the blame with a bit of truth. "It was Ruki's idea."

Staring blankly ahead, he feels rather than sees her glare that says 'thanks a lot'. "Look, Gogglehead, if even your own _girlfriend_ didn't tell you, there's a _very_ good reason."

This is a good moment to remind himself that he sat between Ruki and Takato for another very good reason: To prevent his two best friends from killing each other.

Ruki barrels on before Takato can turn on Juri. "The fact is; you can't keep a secret."

Appalled, Takato gasps. "I can so!"

"Not so, chumly." replies Hirokazu. Getting out a book, Jenrya misses the narrowing of his eyes. "Remember when Kenta had a crush on Ayaka?"

"Even _I_ remember that," points out Jenrya, trying to find his page by intuition rather than any sort of sign (alas, his bookmark fell out again), "and I didn't even know you guys yet." Jenrya suddenly feels justified in not telling Takato about his crush on Ryo.

"And speaking of Jenrya," Kenta interrupts, in an attempt to shift the embarrassment from himself, "remember how we found out he was gay?"

"Not so loudly, not on the train, _please_," Jenrya mutters, hiding his blush behind his book as heads turn. At least Shuichon isn't here (their mother having sensibly decreed that she's too young to go all the way to Kitakyushu and stay overnight with only a bunch of thirteen- and fourteen-year-olds to chaperone her).

He's thankful when Juri reallocates the attention to Takato. "You see, Takato, if we'd told you about the party, then Ryo would have known about it by now, and it wouldn't have been a surprise any more."

"I wouldn't have told him!" Takato protests.

"Yeah," sighs Ruki, "but you would have given it away without saying it. Let's face it, Gogglehead: You're about as subtle as a smack in the face."

"Juri?" Takato pleads.

She shakes her head. "I knew you liked me."

Defeated, Takato slumps in his seat. Jenrya gives him a bit of a pat without looking up from _The Hound of the Baskervilles_.

"I thought it was cute," Juri tries to mollify him.

'kazu, always a little revolted by his friends' behavior around interesting girls, groans. "I think I'm going to be sick."

"_I_ think," Jenrya murmurs as an aside to Ruki, "this is going to be a very long five hours."

-

Miraculously, they all make it to Kitakyushu in one piece. "Right," says Kenta, "who's got the map?"

"Ruki," replies Jenrya, just as Takato blurts out "Jenrya" and Ruki blames Takato in turn. For a moment, they merely look at each other, aghast.

"I wish the Digimon were still here," Takato sighs eventually. "I'm sure Guilmon or Renamon could have sniffed out Monodramon."

"Yeah," Jenrya reminds him, "if they hadn't been kicked off the train first."

"But we saved the worlds!"

"We saved the worlds, and now we're being thwarted by miscommunication and the lack of a map," Ruki groans.

Kenta pushes his glasses up his nose. "Maybe we could just ask someone, 'which way to the legendary Tamer's house?'."

Jenrya flips out his cellphone, and scrolls through his contacts. _There_. "I have his address..."

"Great!" beams Kazu. "We'll catch a cab there!"

"If _you're_ paying," Ruki retorts.

"Juri," says Takato, "who are you talking to?"

They all glance at the payphone, where Juri's nodding and writing something down. "Uh-huh... And then turn _which_ way? Sorry, could you please repeat that? Okay! Thanks, Isidora, we'll be there in...half an hour! Bye!"

"Who's Isidora?" Kenta blinks.

More importantly, thinks Jenrya: "Since when are you on first name terms with Ryo's mother?"

"Since I realized that I couldn't plan a surprise party without insider help," Juri replies smugly, walking back to them. "She gave me directions."

Takato pulls off his goggles (he looks odd without them) and hands them to Juri. "Lead the way!"

"I always wanted to be a goggle girl," Juri giggles as they file out of the train station.

-

Behind a curtain, Jenrya soon realizes, is a stupid place to hide. It means that he has less than a moment between when Ryo's dad comes up the driveway and Ryo walks into the lounge to scramble into the curtain in time for—

"SURPRISE!"

"What the...?" Ryo blinks, suddenly surrounded by younger teenagers.

Ruki smirks. "Jenrya said a couple of weeks ago that your birthday was coming up so—"

"It was all Juri's fau— _idea_," Jenrya hastens to add.

"Your mom helped," Juri beams.

For barely a second, the oldest Tamer gives Jenrya a curious glance that makes him shiver before he stops himself, then grins at his mother. "I _thought_ you were cooking more than usual today. Before you shooed me and Dad out of the house claiming you were going to clean."

She smiles back at him. Jenrya suddenly realizes where Ryo got his good looks from. "I'll leave you kids to your party, then. Come on, Nibori..."

"_Happy birthday!_" 'kazu and Kenta shriek as Ryo's parents exit the room.

Ryo looks uncharacteristically overwhelmed. Jenrya feels this is a nice change from _him_ feeling overwhelmed. All the same, he's pretty keen on not standing around staring at him, so he looks around for something to do. "I'll...set up the karaoke."

"No, don't!" Takato and Juri almost scream.

Kenta grabs the microphone. "Yeah!"

"Have you forgotten school camp?" Takato demands.

"What happened at school camp?" asks Ryo curiously, having never listened to Kenta's 'singing'.

Picking out a song, Kenta improvises an introduction. 'kazu winces. "_That_ did."

"I've created a monster," says Jenrya, aghast at his own lack of foresight.

-

Under the premise of going to the bathroom (really just avoiding having to sing), Jenrya finds himself drawn to Ryo's room. It doesn't look very lived in; it's too tidy, and lacking in personal touches. A bit like his own room, but without all the computers. Then again, Ryo probably hasn't spent that long in this room. He was in the digital world...what was it, a year?

"Ten months," corrects Ryo, startling him. "Do you talk to yourself often?"

"Only when Terriermon's not around." Jenrya says without thinking, then winces. No, best not to remind himself of that fact. "I was trying to work out why your room looks so..."

The older Tamer grins. "Tidy? Yeah, I've only been here permanently for a month. I mean, the whole D-Reaper thing."

"Yeah."

They stand awkwardly in the doorway for a moment, before Ryo reaches for his hand (he thinks), takes his wrist instead, and tugs him into the room. "Sit."

There's a desk with a new-looking laptop on it, but no chair. Apart from the floor, the only place to sit is Ryo's bed. Swallowing his doubts, he sits there anyway, and Ryo joins him with an amused grin. "So, what's a nice boy like you doing in a place like this?"

Jenrya raises an eyebrow at the pick up line, and he responds with a laugh. "Honestly. Last time I checked, this isn't the bathroom."

"Hiding," Jenrya replies truthfully. "I'm not really a singer."

Ryo tilts his head to the side. "I'm sure you're not _that_ bad."

"Not _quite_ as bad as Kenta," Jenrya allows, "but I'm not _good_ either."

It's _stupid_ to be this conscious of how the back of Ryo's hand is touching his.

"Well, you should come back out anyway, don't be antisocial. Ruki's not singing either; she's very good at avoiding the mic when Juri tries to make her."

Really, he should have known it would come back to Ruki. Maybe it shows on his face, because the feathered edge of concern comes into Ryo's eyes. "You don't _have_ to sing. I'll be the distraction. I'm good at it."

Somehow he allows Ryo to lead him back out to the lounge. Before Takato can thrust the microphone at him, Ryo seizes it. "May I...?"

He picks out some Utada Hikaru piano ballad from a couple of years ago, _Final Distance_ or something, earning laughter from the younger Tamers. "Hey, Hikki's _awesome_!" Ryo retorts defensively, then he promptly opens himself up to more laughter with a rather remarkable impression of the pop star. Jenrya has to admit: The boy's an entertainer.

Then suddenly on the chorus the oldest Tamer slips the song down into what Jenrya can only assume is his natural range, drops the impersonation, and takes the song seriously. Everyone stops laughing to listen to him. Jenrya can't breathe, especially when Ryo turns to him and sings two incomprehensible English lines right at him. He's dimly aware of Ruki, the only English-speaker among them (sure, Takato's watched a bit of _Digimon Adventure 02_ in English online, but that doesn't mean he _understood_ it), gaping at him and Ryo both.

There's silence after Ryo finishes the song, to which he raises an eyebrow. "That bad, huh?"

"That was _amazing_, you idiot," Ruki informs him.

Ryo grins. "I love how you manage to twist even compliments into insults."

"I'm talented." she retorts dryly.

Jenrya's speechless. Until Juri realizes something important: "Hey, Jenrya, you haven't sung yet!"

"How can I compete with _that_," he manages.

When everyone's distracted by Takato's voice breaking, Ryo flashes him a wink so subtle he almost misses it. Almost, but not quite.

-

Almost a month ago now, Jenrya swore to himself as he saw Ryo off at the airport that one day he'd get up the nerve to ask Ryo what on earth was going on between them, if anything was. When Juri finalized her surprise party plans a week ago, he swore he'd ask Ryo then. It takes him all night to steel himself to corner Ryo while everyone else prepares to leave for the motel. "Ryo?"

"Yeah?"

And now, the beginning of the end. "I want some answers."

Ryo's smile is lopsided now. "Sorry, I only grant wishes. _You_ strike me as the 'answers' type, though, so _where_ did you get _this_?" He waves around the autographed doujinshi Jenrya gave him for his birthday. "I didn't think it was out in stores yet!"

"It's not," Jenrya replies shortly, not bothering to mention it's written by his sister. "I have my sources. No, I have a lot of questions for you."

"Oh, look," Ryo commentates to apparently no one, "he's determined. Well, shoot."

Jenrya opens his mouth, then loses his nerve. His mind reverts to autopilot, starting with the most recent question. "What did those lyrics mean?"

It's probably a long shot. He's pretty sure Ryo doesn't speak English. But on the other hand, he did call Utada Hikaru 'Hikki', so he must be a fan.

Ryo looks at him askance, as if unsure. It's a refreshing look for him. "_We should stay together, because I need to be with you._"

Bless Ryo for being such a fan.

Unfortunately, this means his mind is back to more important matters that he doesn't think he can articulate. "So, ah. Did you, I mean, do you... Am I..."

"Hurry up, Jenrya!" Ruki calls from the front door.

"Hold on," Jenrya yells back. Right, now or never. This is probably more of a long shot than the lyrics. Although Ryo _has_ said he's 'equal opportunity'... "Are you..._interested_ in me, like, as in, more than just a friend?"

Possibly trying to come up with a line, Ryo glances at the ceiling before meeting his eye with a softer gaze than before. "There's this saying: Actions speak louder than words."

"What—?"

Suddenly Ryo's hand's on his face, and Ryo's mouth is on his, and—_meningitis! glandular fever!_—but actually, this feels okay, so he pulls Ryo closer and opens his mouth a little wider than the end of his 'what?' required, and Ryo takes the hint. This feels good, this feels _very_ good, and it's not worth pretending any more that he _hasn't_ been thinking about doing this since they got back to the real world, and _wow_, Ryo's _very_ good at this.

Jenrya gets out of breath. Sensing this, Ryo pulls away with a bit of a grin. "Is that enough of an answer for you?"

"We're leaving without you," shouts Ruki, "you can sleep on the balcony!"

In the space between two heartbeats, Jenrya can only blink at Ryo. Then he hurriedly puts his shoes on, kisses Ryo hard and no doubt badly, grabs his overnight bag, and runs out to the other Tamers. "Good night, happy birthday again, sorry we gate crashed your house!"

Ryo's silent for a moment, then Jenrya can hear him laughing until he doesn't quite slam the door in his haste to get to the taxi van they'd hired. Somehow the only free seat is between Ruki and Takato, the latter of whom looks at him curiously. "What was that all about?"

"Had something to ask Ryo," Jenrya replies, head still reeling.


End file.
